Retired Air Force general stands by theory Malaysian Airlines flight could have landed in Pakistan

12:48 AM 03/19/2014 | Politics

Jamie Weinstein | Senior Writer

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Retired Air Force General Thomas McInerney isn’t backing away from his thriller novel-like suggestion that the missing Malaysian Airlines flight could have very well landed in Pakistan — and he says his theory is based on more than mere conjecture.

“General, I’ve known you a long time, I know you too well to know that you’re not just making this up, this is not something you’ve concocted. You’ve spoken to a number of people, am I correct?” Sean Hannity asked McInerney during Tuesday night’s episode of “Hannity” on Fox News.

“Yes, but that’s all I want to say, Sean, please,” McInerney responded.

McInerney said that while he has reason to believe the plane landed in Pakistan, he has no idea about the fate of the passengers.

“I don’t know anything about their status,” he said.

McInerney pointed to the way the U.S. and Israeli militaries have acted in recent days to suggest that much more is known about the missing flight than has so far been revealed.

“First of all, let me say, when the U.S. Navy quits their search — their ship search — they must know something in the Indian Ocean,” he said. “When the Israeli Defense Forces, when they increase their air defense alert, they must know something.”

“My concern is, if this airplane could be used as a bearer of a weapon of mass destruction or even conventional munitions that could attack a carrier, the Israelis, other allies, American Forces, for instance,” he added. “We have to be very alert until we know exactly where this airplane is.”

McInerney said he believes “both pilots may have been complicit” and that the U.S. knows much more than it is letting on.

“I think they want to be very cautious because they don’t want to embarrass certain other nations that we’re working close [with],” he said.